SBI employee disguised as "Swami" evaded CBI for 22 years, arrested

Hyderabad: This real-life story has all the ingredients of a Bollywood potboiler.

A Hyderabad man charged with bank fraud changed his identity and became "Swami" to cheat people for 22 years.

Law finally caught up with him when the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested V. Chalapathi Rao from Tamil Nadu after 22 years. During his hiding, he was declared a proclaimed offender (PO) by courts,

CBI had registered a case on May 1. 2002 against the accused who was then a Computer Operator at SBI Chandulal Biradari Branch, Hyderabad.

He was charged for cheating SBI to the tune of Rs. 50 lakh based on fabricated quotations from electronic shops and fake salary certificates created in the names of his family members and close associates. On completion of the investigation, CBI filed two chargesheets on December 31, 2004.

The accused has been missing since 2004. His wife, who is also an accused in the fraud case, even lodged an FIR at Kamatipura (Hyderabad) Police Station on July 10, 2004. She had also filed a petition in the Civil Court to declare the absconding accused dead after completion of seven years after the PO allegedly went missing. In this regard, an order/decree too was passed by the Civil Court of Hyderabad.

As the accused has been absconding, the case against him was split up. Upon completion of proceedings under Sections 82 & 83 Cr.PC, he was declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO) on April 18, 2013 in the case.

During the investigation, the wife of the accused obtained a stay from the Telangana High Court to prevent attaching the property of the PO. The PO resorted to numerous efforts including constantly changing locations, contact numbers, identity, etc. However, CBI relentlessly pursued leads and finally caught him from a village in Tamil Nadu.

As per information gathered by CBI, the accused had fled to Salem and married a lady in 2007 by changing his name to M. Vineet Kumar and obtained an Aadhaar number as well. Through his second wife, CBI got information that the PO was in touch with his son out of his first marriage.

However, in 2014 he left Salem without any information and reached Bhopal where he worked as a Loan Recovery Agent, and then shifted to Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, where he worked in a school.

When the team reached to trace him at Rudrapur, it was found that he had fled the said place in 2016. With the help of email IDs and the Aadhaar details of a PO in the name of M. Vineet Kumar, CBI approached the Gmail Law Enforcement Department.

With these details, it was found out that the PO shifted to an Ashram, in Verul village, Aurangabad. It was further revealed that the PO changed his name to Swamy Vidhitatmanand Teertha and also obtained an Aadhaar Card. However, in December 2021 he left Ashram which he had cheated to the tune of Rs. 70 lakh.

Subsequently, the PO shifted to Bharatpur (Rajasthan) as Vidhitatmanand Teertha and stayed there till July 8, 2024. He thereafter left Bharatpur and reached Tirunelveli to stay with one of his disciples.

During this period, the PO has changed contact numbers more than 8-10 times. It was also gathered that the PO was planning to escape to Sri Lanka by sea route.

Continuous efforts by the CBI to trace the PO resulted in the arrest of the accused on August 4, 2024, from Narsinganallur village, Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu) where he was hiding. The well-coordinated and calibrated efforts of the CBI team resulted in tracing and apprehending the PO who has been on the run for almost two decades evading the clutches of Law. He was produced before the Ld. Court of Special Judge for CBI Cases at Hyderabad and has been remanded to Judicial Custody till August 16. Trial in this case will commence henceforth.